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Streaming service wars news and trends
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523 posts in this topic

17 hours ago, Bosco685 said:

 

I’m good with waiting to see Dune in IMAX. I thought I could wait for No Time to Die there as well, especially since some of the film was shot with IMAX cameras, but at this point just give it to me! I was all set to see it last February and then it was cancelled. We have a completed film soon to hit one year in limbo. Sell it to Netflix or Apple already.
Movie highlight for this month is TENET. Preordered it on iTunes and watching it next week. 

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For nearly a century, Warner Bros. has been in the big-screen business. From the gangster pictures that defined its Depression-era offerings to the “Batman” movies that ushered in its blockbuster phase, the studio has focused on creating stories so action-packed, so need-to-see, that they are tailor-made to lure people from their homes and separate cinema-goers from their hard-earned cash. In the process, the studio helped establish Hollywood as the movie capital of the world.

 

But a pandemic has a way of drastically changing things. Last week, Warner Bros. announced that due to the COVID-induced shutdown of most cinemas in key cities across America, it would release its 2021 slate simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max. That includes sprawling, special-effects-heavy tentpole pictures such as “The Suicide Squad,” “Matrix 4” and “Dune,” as well as awards season hopefuls like “Judas and the Black Messiah” — all representing some $2 billion in production costs. It’s a blow to movie theaters, which were already reeling from audiences’ skittishness about visiting multiplexes during a public health crisis, and a sign that the film business is being subsumed by the streaming revolution.

 

“It’s shifting sands and changing times,” says David Permut, the Oscar-nominated producer of “Hacksaw Ridge.” “I still think theaters are the best way to see movies, but we’re an art form that depends on commerce, and commerce dictated this decision.”

 

There’s no denying that decisions are being made with a sharper eye toward Wall Street, and without much regard to movie theaters and filmmakers. Hollywood has always been a business, but perhaps more than others, it’s one built on personal relationships. In the world of entertainment, schmoozing is almost as revered an art form as moviemaking itself. Warner Bros. has long been considered one of the most filmmaker-friendly studios, attracting big-name repeat directors like Nolan and Clint Eastwood. Yet the company’s new world order could affect the capacity in which talent chooses to collaborate with the studio.

 

“This is the great showdown between six monoliths in the streaming business, involving hundreds of billions of dollars,” Newman says. “They’re not worrying about one individual film or director and their feelings right now. The relationship part of the business has been diminished.”

 

A very different movie business will emerge from the pandemic. When lamenting the changes roiling the industry, more than one executive offered the idiom “The toothpaste is out of the tube.” That most aptly describes the situation around theatrical windows. For the better part of the past decade, studios and theater operators contested the amount of time a movie should exclusively play in cinemas. Studios had long lost that battle, resulting in the three-month time frame that’s become industry commonplace. That is, until Universal Pictures announced months ago that it would make new releases available on demand within weeks of their debuts and give select theater circuits a cut of digital profits in return. Warners then dropped a small bomb in November in saying “Wonder Woman 1984” would open day-and-date on HBO Max on Christmas Day, only to scorch earth weeks later in revealing Gal Gadot’s superhero sequel wouldn’t be a one-off. Sarnoff called Warner Bros.’ hybrid model a “unique one-year plan,” but few believe that will be the case. That leaves little incentive for rival studios to adhere to the standard 90-day window.

 

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Samsung announces massive 110-inch 4K TV with next-gen MicroLED picture quality

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Over the last couple years, Samsung has showed off (and sold to a very rich few) its futuristic, modular TV dubbed The Wall that uses MicroLED technology. MicroLED shares many of OLED’s best traits — without most of the associated drawbacks — and is widely viewed as the next big upgrade leap for the displays in our lives. Now, Samsung is taking MicroLED and putting it into a more traditional TV form factor. Today the company announced the 110-inch MicroLED TV, which goes up for presale today in Korea and will launch globally in the first quarter of 2021.

 

110_TV.thumb.PNG.ae93d5b1fe691da890ad7f771e5ea4a5.PNG

 

As for the first question that probably comes to mind, no, Samsung isn't yet revealing a price for this enormous TV using the latest picture technology. But you can expect it’ll cost far more than any of the company’s other 4K (or even 8K) sets on account of the self-emitting MicroLED magic. You won’t really notice any bezels or borders in these images; this TV has a 99.99 percent screen-to-body ratio, but Samsung still managed to build in “an embedded Majestic Sound System” that it claims “delivers breathtaking 5.1 channel sound with no external speaker.”

 

Here’s what Samsung says about picture quality:

The 110-inch MicroLED uses micrometer-sized LED lights to eliminate the backlight and color filters utilized in conventional displays. Instead, it is self-illuminating — producing light and color from its own pixel structures. It expresses 100 percent of the DCI and Adobe RGB color gamut, and accurately delivers wide color gamut images taken with high-end DSLR cameras. This results in stunning, lifelike colors, and accurate brightness from the display’s 4K resolution and 8 million pixels.

 

Since all those LEDs are self-illuminating, you get the perfect blacks and fantastic contrast that have come to define OLED. But crucially, MicroLED is inorganic and thus should have better long-term durability. There shouldn’t be any threat of burn in, which is already getting rarer on modern OLED TVs. Samsung estimates a lifespan of around 100,000 hours — or “up to a decade.” In the case of The Wall, those MicroLEDs are put into modular panels that can be combined to create a TV of pretty much any size — if you’ve got the scratch to pay for it. Here’s one example of The Wall that was installed in a luxury London home. But the 110-inch TV is a more traditional form factor.

Talk about a replacement for theater screens if needed.

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Disney+ is raising their prices in the United States and fans are conflicted after all the content they saw today. Next spring will see the service go up a dollar to $7.99 next spring. Now, that may not sound like a lot, but there is a lot of hardship out there right now. In an effort to get ahead of that change and load up the Investor Day Presentation with as much content as possible. Star Wars, Pixar, Disney Animation, and Marvel all saw loads of content announced for the service. Multiple movies, limited series, and one-off specials all got announced. Fans were absolutely ecstatic after seeing so many of their favorite characters and heroes on screen for the first time in a long time. Still, just one dollar doesn’t seem like much, but that tiny increase across so many people will add up for Disney in the coming years.

 

Disney CEO Bob Chapek helped lead off today’s Investor Call after Lowell Singer gave the introduction. A lot of fans tuned into this broadcast because of the promise of new content to flood Disney+. There are rumors of a brand new Star Wars project. a major Marvel project announcement and more today. So, the sky is very much the limit when it comes to Disney+ offerings today. After 2020’s relative disaster, the company will be looking to rebound in a huge way heading into 2021.

 

"While I wish we could be together for this, I think you'll find the presentation we have you to be truly spectacular," Chapek said. He highlights Disney+'s success in its first year. The "DTC" business model is a priority. "Given that storytelling is at the heart of everything we do at Disney, we're incredibly proud of how our stories have been embraced by people around the world," he explains. "More than 1 billion people have identified themselves as true fans with deep connections to our brands." Disney+ has 86.8 million subscribers.

 

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When Christopher Nolan signed on to direct 2014’s “Interstellar” for Paramount Pictures, he did so under one condition: Warner Bros. would have to be involved in some capacity.

 

Since “Insomnia” in 2002, Nolan has collaborated with Warner Bros. on every feature film he’s directed — a list of critical and commercial smashes that include the Dark Knight trilogy, 2010’s sci-fi crime “Inception” and 2017’s World War II epic “Dunkirk.” The nearly two-decade long bond between the blockbuster director and the Hollywood studio has laid the foundation for one of the most successful working relationships in modern show business history.

 

That union was rocked last week when Warner Bros. announced its bombshell decision to drop its entire 2021 slate simultaneously on HBO Max and in any open theaters. Days later, Nolan didn’t mince words: In his opinion, Warner Bros. was making a catastrophic mistake. His blistering comments now leave unanswered questions about the strength of the director’s ties to the studio he considers home.

 

“Some of our industry’s biggest filmmakers and most important movie stars went to bed the night before thinking they were working for the greatest movie studio and woke up to find out they were working for the worst streaming service,” he said Monday in a statement to one news outlet.

 

Nolan continued on a mini-press tour Monday, in which he ostensibly promoted the home entertainment release of “Tenet” while simultaneously bashing the HBO Max decision. Though Warner Bros. called the hybrid model a “unique one-year plan” made in response to the pandemic, many expect the bid to boost HBO Max subscribers to be a permanent disruption.

 

“It’s very, very, very, very messy. A real bait and switch,” he told another publication. “It’s not how you treat filmmakers and stars. These guys have given a lot for these projects. They deserved to be consulted and spoken to about what was going to happen to their work.”

 

Nolan’s public remarks were perhaps the most biting, but he is far from the only filmmaker frustrated with the lack of transparency ahead of Warner Bros.’ announcement. The unexpected move was promptly criticized by directors, actors and producers, with “The Suicide Squad’s” James Gunn and “Dune’s” Denis Villeneuve among the A-list talent who were bent out of shape over the lack of information about their movies until the decision became public. Legendary, the company that co-financed next year’s releases “Dune” and “Godzilla vs. Kong,” is weighing legal action.

 

“There are very few things in our business you can count on,” one industry veteran said on the condition of anonymity. “Chris Nolan’s relationship with Warner Bros. would be toward the top of the list, which is what makes this so surprising and disappointing.”

 

Even before the HBO Max shocker, tensions had been simmering. Some Warner Bros. executives were growing frustrated with the drama around the release of Nolan’s latest film “Tenet,” which had been postponed multiple times during the pandemic. Privately, chairman Toby Emmerich and other top leaders at Warner Bros. expressed doubts to colleagues about keeping the early September opening weekend since cinemas were still closed in Los Angeles and New York. Ultimately, studio executives came around to the idea. Emmerich publicly endorsed the move in July saying, “We’re especially thrilled, in this complex and rapidly changing environment, to be bringing Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet,’ a global tentpole of jaw-dropping size, scope and scale, to theaters around the world.” Sources close to Nolan insist that Warner Bros. never approached him about delaying the film any longer.

 

Nolan, a fierce advocate for movie theaters, was seen as controlling. He also grew upset over negative media coverage surrounding the release of the film. Before “Tenet” was finished, Nolan brushed off suggestions from Warner Bros. executives that the sound was muffled in key scenes, chalking it up to an artistic decision. The mixing received backlash on social media when the film was released. Since August, “Tenet” has made $57.6 million in the U.S. and $359 million globally. That’s not a bad result given the fact that many theaters are shuttered, but it’s a steep drop from his previous blockbusters and likely means that Warner Bros. will lose money on the film.

 

Warner Bros. declined to comment, as did Christopher Nolan.

 

Collaborators also stress that despite his healthy ego, Nolan is a brilliant filmmaker with an almost preternatural understanding of what audiences want to see on screen and appreciates a healthy debate over business or artistic decisions.

 

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Disney is inserting anything and everything in order to fill air time. But it's only 6 episodes. So it's got that going for it. (:

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Thor: Love and Thunder star Chris Hemsworth is set to star in a new series on Disney+ entitled Limitless with Chris Hemsworth. The show will focus on Hemsworth's journey to unlock the full potential of his body, and provides Disney with the unique opportunity to capitalize on Hemsworth's intense fitness regimen in more ways than one.

 

Limitless is coming to Disney+ by way of National Geographic, which was included in 2019 as a part of Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox. It is one of two Nat Geo shows coming to the streaming service. Interestingly, both are being produced by filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, who previously collaborated with Nat Geo for the series One Strange Rock. Of course, it is Hemsworth's involvement with Limitless that is most notable, as the Thor actor already has his plate full as it relates to Disney productions.

 

With Limitless, Disney has doubled down on Hemsworth's workout preparation for his role in Taiki Watiti's Thor: Love and Thunder, which will see the titular hero return to his signature physical strength. Hemsworth has been lauded in the past for his commitment to his own physical health, so he is certainly an appropriate fit for a show so heavily focused on what the human body is capable of. It should be noted that Hemsworth has been in tip-top shape throughout his career. Even his shocking turn as "Fat Thor" in Avengers: Endgame was the result of practical effects. Still, Hemsworth has been training for the fourth entry in the Thor series, so Limitless marks a unique opportunity for Disney to showcase what goes into such training for its millions of subscribers.

 

Somewhat ironically, Limitless is a six-part limited series. 

 

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Roku Inc. ROKU 1.77% reached a deal with AT&T Inc.’s T -0.95% WarnerMedia to carry the HBO Max streaming service on Wednesday, ending an eight month standoff between the companies and ensuring that Roku customers will be able to watch content such as the upcoming “Wonder Woman” movie.

 

The two companies were at loggerheads since HBO Max was launched in May over the financial terms for Roku to carry the app. The stakes were raised for both sides when WarnerMedia said the highly anticipated movie “Wonder Woman 1984” would be released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max on Christmas Day.

 

The agreement significantly expands the potential audience for the WarnerMedia movie. Roku is the leading streaming app distributor in the U.S., with some 46 million active accounts and 38% of the market including set-top devices and software that powers smart TVs.

 

Spokesmen for both companies declined to comment on the terms of the deal.

 

WarnerMedia has said its full slate of films for 2021 will be launched the same way as “Wonder Woman,” with availability on HBO Max in the U.S. alongside the theatrical release. The company hopes that such premium programming will generate a wave of subscriptions for the streaming service, which is battling Netflix Inc., Walt Disney Co. ’s Disney+, Comcast Corp.’s Peacock, and several other services.

 

The standoff with HBO Max is one of several Roku has had with media companies. Its biggest rival in streaming-media distribution, Amazon.com Inc., also has had tense negotiations with some companies over carrying their apps in its FireTV devices. WarnerMedia reached a deal to place HBO Max on FireTV in November.

 

Roku makes money selling its devices, but also generates substantial revenue through its deals with content providers. When companies get their apps carried by Roku, they generally agree to supply a share of subscription revenue and advertising space.

 

WarnerMedia and Roku differed over how to split ad space in an upcoming ad-supported version of HBO Max, people familiar with the talks said. WarnerMedia took a hard line in the talks against supplying content to The Roku Channel, an ad-supported video app owned by Roku, one of the people said.

 

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Looks like the HBO Max news is exactly what Roku needed. So not just a WB benefit.

Roku Stock Shoots to All-Time Highs on HBO Max Deal

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Wonder Woman and HBO Max are giving Roku a power-up on Wall Street.

 

On Thursday, shares of Roku were up over 5% in early trading coming the day after the company announced a pact with AT&T’s WarnerMedia to add HBO Max to its streaming devices following months of haggling.

 

Roku’s stock was above $340 per share into new all-time highs as of 9:45 a.m. ET, after peaking earlier at $352.12. The surge has added more than $2 billion to Roku’s market cap, which currently tops $43 billion.

 

With HBO Max now on Roku (as of Thursday, Dec. 17), customers of its streaming media players and Roku-enabled TVs who also subscribe to the SVOD package will have access to Warner Bros.’ much-anticipated “Wonder Woman 1984” on Christmas Day — as well as the studio’s full 17-film slate in 2021, coming to HBO Max the same day the movies hit theaters.

 

Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Roku will now be able to resell the HBO Max service (regularly $14.99/month) to the platform’s customer base, while it will suspend the sale of HBO through the Roku Channel store.

 

Per Roku’s standard terms, the company takes a 20% cut of subscription revenue and 30% of advertising inventory. However, in the case of the WarnerMedia deal for HBO Max that may be different.

 

By sealing the Roku deal, WarnerMedia now has successfully covered all the major OTT device bases. Amazon — which said Fire TV had over 50 million active users in 2020 — agreed to an HBO Max deal in November, after WarnerMedia had landed partners including Apple (iOS and Apple TV), Google (Android, Chromecast and YouTube TV), Xbox, PlayStation and Samsung for the May 27 launch of HBO Max.

 

Getting a deal done ASAP was in the best interests of both Roku and WarnerMedia.

 

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